🌻April in the Veggie Patch, Fruit tree to-do's + Nitrogen + Living Mulch FAQs 🌻

Kath Irvine

01 Apr 2026 • 3 min read

Dear Kath, I'm worried about looming food shortages and want to get a veggie garden growing quickly..... "

I've had loads of these messages of late, so lets dive in.
Getting a veggie garden up and running quickly = choose a good spot for your patch + find some good compost + buy seedlings = away you go! Here's my start a garden collection to help you out.

With that sorted lets get you set-up with a rock-solid foundation, so that from now on in you have the support and fertility you need to go it alone without the shops. Five things will get you there:

Join community food groups/ gardens

You cannot grow all your food all on your lonesome. You need to swap crops and seeds, share knowledge and resources, and be supported on your food journey. Together is the cornerstone of resilience.

Make compost

Homemade compost is free, waaaay better than bought, and so blimmin easy! Follow my simple ways, and make compost-making your number one garden task so that you always have compost on hand for planting.

Set-up wormfarms

Transform your food scraps into vermicast with one of my cheap and easy homemade bucket worm farms. Vermicast is a miracle worker - its your go to compost alternative, seed raising mix, and all round answer for unwell plants.

Get a diverse seed stash together

Seeds are food security! Choose open pollinated, or even better, heirloom seeds so that you can save your own seed in the future. Gather together greencrops - ideally individually, I prefer to make my own mixes up, herbs, veggies and flowers (they're not frivolous, they're important!). With a diversity of seeds you can grow a diversity of crops to keep dinner interesting, and soil health high.

Stay steady

The world is noisy and fearful, full of hype and BS. Keep the drama in your periphery and your focus on the stuff that really matters - compost, community, calm. Hold steady my friends.

Yours in the earth
❤️